One can only hope it will be a stormy night on March 15 when the Ronald H. Roberts Temecula Public Library (RHRTPL) presents “How Frankenstein's Monster Came to Life,” a literary program commemorating the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.”

The event is free and open to the public.

After all, tempestuous weather foreshadows events throughout “Frankenstein,” and the novel was penned in 1816 during what Shelley called “a wet, ungenial summer.”

With “Frankenstein's Monster Came to Life,” the RHRTPL joins the ranks of hundreds of organizations around the globe celebrating the bicentennial of “Frankenstein” through programs, readings and other events.

Senior Librarian Matilda Flores worked with RHRTPL staff and frequent program partner Mount San Jacinto College (MSJC) to develop a program that would be educational and spine-tingling. “Shortly after contacting Dean Jeremy Brown with the idea for a lecture, Professors Susan Winslow and Audrey Holod were on board,” Flores said.

Winslow, an assistant professor of English and advisor to the MSJC Menifee Valley Campus Creative Writing Club, will offer a glimpse behind the pages and into the perfect storm that led to “Frankenstein,” including that cold summer on Lake Geneva; a book of old German ghost stories; and a now infamous directive from the poet Lord Byron: "We will each write a ghost story."

“I don’t want to spoil too much of what I will be covering regarding the background behind the novel,” Winslow said. “It’s my belief that two of our greatest horrors stories came from this one haunted summer.”

Holod, who is also an assistant professor of English at MSJC, will explore the enduring appeal of “Frankenstein,” a novel with the distinction of never having been out of print and which is, according to the Open Syllabus project, the most frequently taught work of literature in college English courses.

In Winslow’s opinion, the themes in “Frankenstein” still resonate. “There are some very deep concepts in the book that I think related to Shelley personally, such as creation, loss, rejection, and fear,” Winslow said. “All of these concepts are relative today, as well, which makes this book still easy to connect to for readers.”

The international celebration of “Frankenstein’s” 200th anniversary was spearheaded by the Keats-Shelley Association of America via its National Endowment for the Humanities-funded initiative ‘Frankenreads’ which brings together partner organizations in the U.S. and abroad to honor the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.”